Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This report is part of ongoing investigation on understanding irrational number by prospective secondary school teachers. It focuses of representation of irrational numbers as points on a number line. In a written questionnaire, followed by a clinical interview, the participants were asked to indicate the exact location of the square root of 5 on a number line. The results suggest confusion between irrational numbers and their decimal approximation and overwhelming reliance on the latter. Pedagogical suggestions are discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper discusses results of in-depth follow-up interviews conducted with selected individuals of Chinese descent residing in Los Angeles and San Francisco who were previously chosen by random to participate in the 2000-01 Pilot National Asian American Political Survey. A total of 15 male and female informants migrated from Taiwan, Mainland China, and Hong Kong were interviewed in Mandarin Chinese. They were asked to compare the performance of the U.S. government to that of the government in their respective ethnic homeland. They were also asked to explain their reasons for supporting a certain U.S. political party, ideology, and type of candidates. In addition, they commented on the state of political participation or the lack of it among Chinese Americans. Finally, they explained the complexity of their ethnic self-identification and experience of racial discrimination. The results help dispel myths about Chinese Americans being politically indifferent and irrational. They help illuminate the possible relationships between ethnic identity, homeland politics, and political participation in the American context. They also provide exciting insights on improving the survey instrument regarding a majority-immigrant population.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This studies public numbers as cultural artifacts. Public numbers are social and economic statistics and indicators with high media visibility. They are complex objects located at the intersection of science and mathematics, policy and media. In spite of the great social, economic and political impact of statistics in contemporary life, they have been relatively neglected as objects of sociological study. Most of the small extant research focuses on the production of indicators and their institutional linkages. This investigation extends this research to include the public reception of indicators. It looks at how the overflow of these indicators from technical and professional realms into the public sphere can create powerful collective representations and cultural phenomena. Through a case study of “country risk” in Argentina, a crucial indicator with extensive media presence in 2001 prior to the onset of the economic collapse, I map empirically the concrete meanings of country risk and its reception by lay audiences. Using in-depth interviews, newspaper covers, cartoons and archival materials, it shows how country risk became a powerful symbol articulated with narratives of the nation.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Drawing on a sample of 684 mobile subscribers in the U.S., this study investigates the effect of mobile number portability (MNP) by focusing on subscribers’ perceptions and behaviors on MNP. The FCC mandated number portability to wireless carriers for customer benefits through increased competition in the industry. Statistical analyses in this study reveal, however, subscribers perceive switching barrier is still high, discouraging subscribers from switching carriers. Carriers develop new subscriber lock-in strategies that make subscribers stay with current carriers. In addition, there are other hidden costs despite MNP that subscribers should burden with number portaling. In all, MNP is upheld by subscribers’ burden not carriers and not regulators, which partly explains the low number of switching subscribers under MNP. The findings imply that MNP has more directly affected the industries to a greater extent than subscribers, which suggests implications for both regulators and industries; how to effectively enforce MNP to achieve the intended goals and how to achieve competitive advantage with MNP.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: While communication scholars suggest that the Internet can serve as an important resource for social movement communication, few studies examine whether and how social movements actually use the Internet. This paper examines social movement Internet use by surveying how national social movement organizations utilize this communication resource at one of its most visible points of access, the World Wide Web. Drawing on alternative media studies, the paper develops a typology that identifies the communication functions most central to social movements and surveys the Web sites of social movement organizations (SMOs) to determine the degree to which their Web-based activities and attributes perform these functions. The survey results suggest that the majority of national SMOs are not utilizing the Web to its full potential and posits a number of reasons why this might be the case, including organizational objectives, organizational resources, and the structure of the larger Web-based networks of which SMOs are a part.